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Phys.org / Physics-based weather models more accurate than AI at predicting extreme weather

Weather forecasting is another aspect of modern life that artificial intelligence is transforming. Models like GraphCast, Pangu-Weather, and Fuxi are already better than traditional physics-based climate models at predicting ...

May 5, 2026
Phys.org / Life with one less: Engineered bacteria break the 20-amino-acid rule

One of life's many mysteries is how it ended up choosing only a set of 20 amino acids to build proteins for its wide catalog of organisms, from single-celled bacteria to behemoth whales. From a chemical standpoint, many of ...

May 5, 2026
Phys.org / Colored microplastics could be making global warming worse

There's more bad news about microplastics. We already know they pose a risk to health and can pollute ecosystems, but now researchers have discovered that tiny plastic particles drifting in Earth's atmosphere could be a significant ...

May 5, 2026
Tech Xplore / Can AI ascertain our personality traits from our ChatGPT history?

Large language models (LLMs), the computational models underpinning the functioning of ChatGPT, Gemini, and similar conversational platforms, are now used daily by many people worldwide. As these models can rapidly answer ...

May 5, 2026
Phys.org / 'Indian Niño' drove record heat in 2023 and 2024, new study finds

In 2023 and 2024, Earth's average global surface temperature spiked nearly 0.3 degrees Celsius above what was already expected from climate change. Each year was declared the hottest on record and coincided with deadly wildfires, ...

May 6, 2026
Phys.org / DNA-reading AI reconstructs ancestry in minutes, matching top statistical methods

Researchers at the University of Oregon have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can read genetic code the way large language models like ChatGPT read text. Scanning the genome for biological mutation patterns, ...

May 4, 2026
Phys.org / Space junk falls to Earth faster when sunspots peak, reshaping satellite collision forecasts

Solar emissions exert 'drag' on space junk orbiting Earth. From historical measurements across a period of 36 years, researchers have now shown that space junk begins to fall down much faster once the sun's activity across ...

May 6, 2026
Phys.org / Plaster-making technique previously attributed to the Romans appears 8,000 years earlier in Motza

Excavations from 2015 to 2021 on the ancient site of Motza, just west of Jerusalem, revealed a sprawling settlement with some surprisingly advanced technology. The site dates back to 7100–6700 BCE during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic ...

May 4, 2026
Phys.org / Astronomers explore the surface composition of a nearby super-Earth

Using MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) on board the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team of researchers led by former MPIA (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany) Ph.D. student Sebastian Zieba (Center ...

May 4, 2026
Phys.org / Three billion years ago, Earth's life relied on a rare metal

A collaborative team of scientists has discovered that life on Earth over three billion years ago relied on the metal molybdenum, which was incredibly scarce in the environment at the time. The study, published in Nature ...

May 5, 2026
Phys.org / On the ground or in the atmosphere? Swarm satellites help characterize and pinpoint destructive events

When solar storms strike Earth, they can disrupt power grids, rail systems, satellites, and even marine life. These effects arise because solar wind and geomagnetic activity disturb the magnetosphere–ionosphere system, generating ...

May 6, 2026
Phys.org / Why isolated human groups speak more diverse languages even as genetic diversity shrinks

Languages and human DNA both capture aspects of human diversity. But how are they related? A new international study led by the University of Zurich finds a clear but counterintuitive pattern: regions with high genetic diversity ...

May 5, 2026